The invention relates to rotary lawn mowers and, more particularly, to grass collection bags for rotary lawn mowers.
Rotary lawn mowers typically are provided with a discharge outlet which is located at one side or in the rear of the mower housing and which is adapted for the installation of a grass collection bag or receptacle. The grass clippings and other debris are discharged through the discharge outlet and into a collection bag or receptacle by a high velocity air stream created by a horizontal rotation of the cutter blade in the blade housing. The collection bag for mowers employing a side discharge typically extends some distance laterally outwardly from the mower housing with respect to the direction of mowing and prevents close mowing on the side to which it is attached.
Rear grass catching attachments for mowers having a side discharge outlet have been proposed to eliminate the above problems. Such prior attachments typically include a bag or receptacle mounted on the rear of the mower and a conduit extending from the mower side discharge outlet to the bag or receptacle. Many of such prior art attachments are not readily adaptable for installation on rotary lawn mowers of existing construction without several additional components, cannot be conveniently removed for emptying, and/or require special tools for converting the mower from a grass catching operation to one where the grass catcher is not used. Examples of prior art rear mounted grass collection attachments for rotary lawn mowers are disclosed in the following U.S. Patents:
Beal et al., U.S. Pat. No. 2,910,818 issued Nov. 3, 1959
Smith et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,568,421, issued March 9, 1971
Gatheridge, U.S. Pat. No. 3,624,989, issued Dec. 7, 1971
Knight, U.S. Pat. No. 3,668,864, issued June 13, 1972
Corbett, U.S. Pat. No. 3,722,192, issued Mar. 27, 1973
Moery et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,934,392, issued Jan. 27, 1976
Carpenter, 3,958,401, issued May 25, 1976